When Dad's Away
by writerchic16
Summary: Two-shot. Young Justin and Alex are in big trouble when they accidentally turn Theresa invisible, especially when they can't reverse the spell, and Jerry is out of town.
1. Part I

**When Dad's Away**

Summary: Young Justin and Alex are in big trouble when they accidentally turn Theresa invisible, especially when they can't reverse the spell, and Jerry is out of town.

A/N: Yup, another story about their childhood. Remember Theresa's line in the "Retest" episode? "Wait 'til they turn you invisible. None of your clothes fit right after that." He he.

* * *

**Part I**

_2005_

"When are you coming home, Daddy?" twelve-year-old Alex asked into the cordless phone. "I really miss you." After she'd used magic to speed-read through a book she needed to read for a book report, her mother had grounded her until she did the book report the mortal way. She wanted to a street fair with Harper the next day, so she'd been hoping her father, who usually took her side, would come home soon and talk her mother into letting her off the hook.

But that wasn't happening, apparently. _"Not until Monday, honey,"_ her dad answered. _"This is a weekend-long No Wizard Left Behind conference. I'm sorry, I miss you too."_

"Okay. But, um, I want to ask you something..." Alex trailed off as she looked around the entrances to the loft common area to make sure no one was listening. Her mother was still downstairs closing and cleaning up the sub shop.

Satisfied that she wouldn't be caught, Alex quickly asked, "Can I go to a street fair with Harper tomorrow? It's not far from Waverly Place."

_"Did you finish your book report?"_ her father replied.

Alex hesitated. "Um, I read the book." And it was true. She did read the book once with the help of her speed-reading spell.

He clearly sensed her reluctance since he asked, _"Alex, what did your mother say?"_

"She said that Alex is grounded for the weekend. And now for the rest of the week, too."

Uh oh. That had been her mother's voice.

The phone still held up to her ear, Alex slowly turned around to find her mother standing in the front doorway, the _other_ cordless phone in her hand. She must have needed to make a call and mistakenly beeped into Alex's conversation.

While Alex stood there trying to figure out what to do, Theresa brought her phone to her ear. "Jerry, I already told her she couldn't go to the street fair because she tried to use magic to do her report. She'll talk to you later." And she pressed the talk button on the phone to end the call.

A weak grin on her face, Alex hung up her phone too, then slowly backed up toward the stairs. Her mother was giving her a scary look, and Alex knew better than to stick around for the full reaction. "I know, I know, I'm in trouble. I'll just, uh, send myself to my room."

She then whirled around and made a mad dash for the stairs.

In the upstairs landing, Alex began heading toward her room, but found herself blocked. "What?" she wondered aloud in confusion. The hallway was empty, but she _knew_ she bumped into _something_.

Suddenly the decorative table against the wall moved, and what was distinctly her brother's voice exclaimed, "Ouch!"

"Justin!" Alex whispered, so as not to alert her mother, who was still downstairs. "Justin, is that you? Did you use magic?" When there wasn't a response, Alex demanded, "Don't try to hide from me! I know that was you who said 'ouch'!"

There was a long sigh, then much to Alex's surprise, a waterfall of sparkles cascaded on to the floor, and Justin appeared. "Hi," he muttered. "I used the invisibility spell. I was going to get the comic book Mom took away when she caught me reading it while I was supposed to be studying."

"Hah! I caught you using magic!" Alex said with a triumphant pump of her fist. "I am so telling Mom to get back at you for blabbing about my speed-reading."

Justin ran to block her way to the stairs. "Wait, Alex, don't you want to know what the invisibility spell is? I can teach it to you if you don't tell Mom!"

That made Alex pause. She did _really_ want to bust her brother for once. But...the idea of learning a new spell excited her. They had only been in training since Justin got his powers last year, so between that and not paying attention in class, she really didn't know many spells. She would never admit it, but she was jealous that Justin always knew so many more than her, either because he studied the spells in class or read the various spell books their dad kept in the lair.

"Alright, what is it?" Alex asked, her arms crossed.

"I found it in one of the spell books downstairs," Justin said, excited to share what he'd learned. "At first I thought it would be in the book about spells developed in the fifteenth century, because it was invented by the wizard..."

Alex held up her hands. "Justin, skip the nerdy stuff and just tell me the spell!"

Insulted, Justin retorted, "Fine, now you'll never know that it was accidentally discovered when-"

"Justin!"

"Okay!" He finally took out his wand and pointed it at the table he'd crashed into earlier. "It's this: 'Now no one else can see, if they're standing close to me.'" In response, magic flew from his wand, and the table appeared to be no longer there.

"Cool! But how do you get it not invisible again?" Alex asked.

Sheepish, Justin shrugged. "I, uh, don't know. Since the book wasn't historical, not instructional, it didn't go into detail about how to reverse the spell. I've been using the undo dust Dad told us about, see?" He pulled a small pouch from his bag, then opened it to show Alex the glitter inside. He then took a pinch and threw it at the table, and it turned visible. "Oh, that reminds me, I have to go into lair and get some more. This pouch I found in there doesn't hold much."

"Yeah..." Alex glanced down the stairs. Her mother must have gone to finish up in the shop, since the room was empty. "Hey, Mom went back to the shop, it's safe to get your comic book now."

"Oh really? Great!" Justin exclaimed as he ran to the stairs. He then realized she'd done him a favor and looked at her with surprise. "Uh, thanks Alex."

"No problem, bro," Alex replied. He continued downstairs, and she snatched up the undo dust pouch he'd left on the table. "No problem at all," she smugly whispered to herself.

* * *

The next afternoon, Alex tip-toed down the stairs, her wand in one hand and the pouch in the other. There looked to be just enough left for one more spell reversal, which was just enough. Of course she hadn't finished her book report over night, but it was Saturday, and she was _going_ to that street fair.

Her only obstacle was her mother, who unfortunately was sitting in the living room with Max, helping him study for an English test he had on Monday.

Good luck, Mom. Surely her less-than-genius brother would keep her busy all day.

Even though her mother's back was turned, Alex wanted to make sure she wouldn't be seen sneaking out the front door. She pulled out her wand, then whispered, "Now no one else can see, if they're standing close to me."

As she was casting the spell, she noticed that the pouch was about to fall out of her jacket pocket. Distracted, her hand slipped, and the wand fired the spell behind her instead of directly at her. The pouch dropped to the floor while she stared at the spark of magic in horror.

It had rebounded off the kitchen cabinets...then hit her mother square in the back.

Uh oh.

Max's eyes widened in shock as his mother disappeared. "Whoa..." he gasped, then spotted Alex on the stairs. "Alex, what did you do?"

"What?" Theresa asked, confused as she hadn't realized her current state of invisibility. There was a rustling sound on the couch as she presumably turned around. "Oh, hi Alex. Finish that report yet?"

"Um, no, I was just going up to work on it...bye!" Alex exclaimed, then once again tore up the stairs. Maybe if her mother didn't notice for a while, she'd be able to come up with an excuse that _didn't_ put her at fault for this.

However, she wasn't that lucky. Just as she'd reached the landing, she winced as she heard her mother's horrified shout.

"Alexandra Margarita Russo! Get down here right _now_!"

The exclamation carried up the stairs, so Justin emerged from his room and gave her a curious glance. "What'd you do?"

Nervous, Alex decided she'd rather have her brother come downstairs with her than face her mother's wrath alone. Even though invisible, her mother still had her voice to shout with. "Well, why don't you come down with me and see for yourself." Alex winced. "Pun not intended."


	2. Part II

**Part II**

Twenty minutes later, Alex was searching the metal stairs for any leftover undo dust that had spilled from the pouch. Before her mother could let loose her full rage, Alex had quickly blurted that she would get some more undo dust from the lair and bolted. However, she was disheartened to find that the undo dust container was empty. They also thought about looking for the spell in some of the other books, but Justin assured them that it would be impossible to find within a reasonable amount of time since he'd already read most of the books in the lair and hadn't come across it.

They'd tried to call Jerry for the reversal spell, but they were told by an operator that he was currently in a "dimension out of wand calling service area." While Alex was able to call him the night before, Theresa informed them that Jerry often told her that the conventions changed locations several times during the weekend.

"I can't believe you used _all_ the undo dust, Justin!" Alex spat. They were all looking for specks of the dust that might have fallen over the dining room area.

He glared at her. "And I can't believe you _stole_ what was left from me to sneak out of the house! Don't try to turn this on me!"

"It doesn't matter, because you are _both_ in a world of trouble!" Theresa's disembodied voice yelled from somewhere by the dining room table. "How many times do your father and I have to tell you not to use magic without our permission? I mean, look at me! Oh, wait, _you can't_!"

"I'm sorry, Mom," Alex and Justin chorused.

In an effort to calm his mother down, Justin replied, "You know, it's not that bad..."

"Oh really? How so?" Theresa demanded.

"Well, being invisible is kind of cool, isn't it?" Justin offered. "You're like...Invisible Woman! From the Fantastic Four!"

If they could see her face, Alex suspected that her mother was giving Justin an incredulous stare. "Right," Theresa replied. "Just call me Susan Storm."

"The fact that you know the Invisible Woman's real name is really...weird, Mom. And a little nerdy," Alex spoke up, then was glad she couldn't see the exasperated glance she was surely receiving.

Max suddenly held out his pinched fingers, as if holding something very small. "I think I found some undo dust!" He cried, then flung it in the direction he'd last heard his mother's voice.

They heard Theresa sputter like she was getting something out of her mouth. "I think that was just dust, Max. But thanks for trying, sweetie."

"Sorry," Max replied.

Frustrated, Justin stopped looking for a moment. "This is crazy. There wasn't that much dust left in the pouch. Alex probably wouldn't have been able to reverse the spell with what she had."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Alex asked. "Leave Mom invisible until Dad gets home?" She then paused as she thought of the possible benefits. She could go out, but her mother wouldn't be able to come get her if she was invisible, and she was hanging out with her _mortal_ friend Harper. "Actually, that's not a bad idea..."

"Alex!" Theresa exclaimed. "I am _not_ staying invisible for the whole weekend. First of all, not being able to see myself in a mirror..._really_ freaks me out. Second, we open the restaurant for lunch on Sunday, remember?"

Alex shrugged. "Well, I mean, it's not like anyone sees you when you're in the back making sandwiches..." However, even without the visual, she could sense her mother's annoyed glare. "It was a a suggestion! Justin, what were you going to say?"

"That we should make up our own reversal spell," Justin answered.

Shocked, Alex answered, "You can _do that_?"

"Yeah, Dad's always had to teach us the reverse spell," Max said, also surprised.

Justin nodded. "Yeah, they're called 'make 'em ups,' I was reading ahead and learned about them."

"Okay then, let me try," Alex said and took out her wand, a spell forming in her mind. She went to aim it at her mother, then realized she didn't know where her mother was. "Hey, uh...Marco?"

"Don't you dare, Alex!"

"You're supposed to say 'Polo,' Mom,'" Alex joked.

"You were about to cast some spell on me without even thinking about it!" Theresa pointed out. "Who knows what any random spell you come up with will do to me!"

"She's right, Alex. We have to sit down and think this through," Justin agreed.

"Yeah, so you two go in the lair, and don't come out until you have a spell that you know will work," Theresa instructed, then the textbook on the living room coffee table appeared to levitate in midair. "Come on, Max. You need to get back to studying."

"Ah! A haunted textbook! My nightmare is coming true!" Max exclaimed, then ran to his room.

"No, Maxi, it was just me!" Theresa called, then let out an exasperated groan. "Alex, you head to the lair, and Justin...go calm your brother down and get him back out here."

Both Alex and Justin were trying their hardest not to burst out laughing. "Okay, Mom," they chorused, then went in their respective directions.

* * *

"How about this one...Objectus Reappearus," Alex chanted with her wand pointed at the air above the lair's small table. To test out various spells, they'd turned one of the crystal balls lying around invisible. And it had been invisible for the past hour as everything spell they managed to come up with failed.

Including "Objectus Reappearus," apparently, as the crystal ball remained invisible.

Justin raised an eyebrow. "'Objectus Reappearus?' Really?"

"Oh please, like 'Comakus Pancakus' is so complicated," Alex retorted.

Anxious, Justin began pacing the room. "Coming up with a simple rhyme shouldn't be so hard! Are we sure the crystal ball is even still there?"

Alex reached her hand where the object was last seen, and sure enough, her hand bumped into what felt like glass. "Yup, still there. You're just really bad at this."

"_Me_? None of your spells worked either!" Justin argued.

"At least _I've_ been coming up with some," Alex retorted. It was discovered early on that making up spells was not one of Justin's strengths, surprisingly, since he was good at everything else. Alex was loving it - finally, something her brother couldn't do. "I can count on one hand how many you've managed to come up with in the past hour!"

"Oh yeah?" Justin pointed his wand where he knew the crystal ball was. "Um, uh...Because I want it to be visible, this crystal ball now...isn't invisible."

As Alex expected, nothing happened. "Nice one, you sure showed me," she remarked. "'Visible' and 'invisible' - however did you come up with that clever rhyme?"

"Hey, you're the one who messed up in the first place, as usual! I wouldn't insult the guy who's trying to help!" Justin snapped.

Alex lowered her eyes and didn't say anything. Part of the reason she was being so particularly sarcastic with Justin was that she did want to take attention off her failure. Of course she knew this was her fault, but it just felt better to focus on her discovery of Justin's ineptness at creating spells. But it still hurt that she was the reason her mother currently couldn't see herself in a mirror, and they had no way to turn her back. "I know, alright?" Alex retorted, determined not to let her guilt show.

But of course her brother always knew when she was being defensive. "Sorry," he muttered. "I'm just...nervous, you know? I mean, you turned _Mom_ invisible."

"Yeah. I should've cut my losses and been happy with just being grounded for the weekend," Alex confessed. She probably wouldn't be allowed to go anywhere for a good, long time after this. With a long sigh, she picked up her wand. "Alright, one more before we try calling Dad again. 'This object that I cannot see, from now on it will be visible to me.'"

They held their breath when a spark of magic flew from her wand and landed on the crystal ball. "Yes!" Alex exclaimed. She could now see it, which meant the spell worked. "I did it!"

"What? No you didn't. I can't see it..." Justin argued, then realized what happened. "Oh. 'From now on it will be visible to _me_.' You're the only one who can see the crystal ball now, Alex."

"Darn it!" Alex groaned. She had been so hopeful at first.

His face serious with thought, Justin continued, "Wait, maybe you're on to something. 'See' and 'me' - those are the same words that rhymed in the original spell. That might have something to do with it."

"So we'll just include that rhyme in our spells," Alex agreed, her wand ready. "Um...'This object is invisible because of me, so from now on it will be clearly seen.' Seen? Does that count even though it's not like the original?"

Justin's jaw had dropped in surprise. "I guess it does. The spell worked, Alex! I can see it now!"

"Really? I did it?" Alex exclaimed. She couldn't tell if the spell had worked of course because of her previous spell, but she could tell her brother's reaction was genuine. It astounded her, really. Something _she_ did was successful - she had come up with the right spell, when Justin couldn't after an hour of trying. Sure, he was the one to come up with the "see/me" connection, but he still hadn't been the one to put it together and create the actual _spell_.

The victory brought a small smile to her face.

* * *

Alex and Justin sprinted up to the loft, both triumphant from their discovery and calling for their mother. "Mom! We did it!" They chorused as they arrived in the common area to find a very unnerved Max squirming on the couch while a textbook floated next to him. Theresa must have had the book on her lap, but apparently Max couldn't get over his fear of floating textbooks.

"Mom! We did it! Alex came up with the spell!" Justin called.

The book slid to the floor as presumably Theresa stood up. "Thank goodness," Max muttered, but clearly more relieved that the book was no longer floating.

"Alex came up with the spell? Really?" Theresa asked, surprised.

Alex tried not to take offense, but the surprise still hurt. "Yes, _I_ did it! I've found that I'm really good at making up spells." To prove it, she pulled out her wand and pointed it in the direction of her mother. "You're invisible because of me, from now on you will be clearly seen."

The spark of magic flew from Alex's wand and stopped in midair. Theresa immediately appeared before them as the spark faded. "Did it work?" she asked, then breathed a sigh of relief as she held up her hands, and could see them. "Oh, thank goodness."

"Mom! I can see you!" Max exclaimed and gave her a tight hug.

Theresa returned the hug. "Aw, everything's okay now, Maxi," she assured him, then turned to her other two children. "As for you two, you're spending the rest of the day in your rooms, I..." She trailed off when she noticed her shirt sagging, and pulled at the loose fabric of her shirt. "Did you do the spell right, Alex? My clothes don't seem to fit...my jeans are looser too..."

"Well you said you wanted to loose a few pounds, right? Maybe Justin and I did you a favor," Alex nervously suggested.

"Nice try," Theresa replied. "Now, like I was saying, both of you up to your rooms. Your father is hearing about this the second I can get in touch with him again."

Still happy about their success, Alex and Justin ran up the stairs. "I can't believe _I_ was the one to come up with the spell." She had a new-found confidence in her abilities as a wizard. Justin could memorize everything, but she'd discovered a creative ability in her that she felt just might help her more than memorizing all the spells in the world. Maybe she even had a shot at winning the wizard competition.

"Yeah...you did good, Alex," Justin agreed. He grinned at her total surprise that he'd actually paid her a compliment. "We make a good team."

Alex wanted to argue that it was she who had come up with the spell. But the more she thought about it, the more she had concede that it had been a team effort. Their _first_ team effort, and something told her there would be many more in the future. "Yeah, I guess we do."


End file.
